Here at TalkDrinks we adore all spirits, but have a special place in our hearts for that lovely juice of the agave - Tequila. We read all we can and familiarize ourselves with the history, methods, care and love that goes into the Tequila bottle, and especially enjoyed this article on ShakeStir.com by the Bon Vivants who detail a blind tasting of dozens of Tequilas. Read on to see how the San Francisco team determines what makes a great well Tequila for a new bar in California.
The other night, a thirty+ Tequila blind margarita tasting was hosted. The other night we got good and borracho. The contest took place in order to determine which Tequila was would win the highly coveted well spot at a new Mexican restaurant across the bridge in Berkeley called Comal, at which we are consulting on the bar program. The distributors were told to keep bottle cost under fifteen dollars. We added in eight ringers - things like Ocho, El Tesoro, and Partida. The ringers were products that would never be in this well based on price, but that we knew to be great products. There was a panel of 8 people tasting. Our panel was a mix of professional agave lovers, i.e. us, and another bartender friend, Comal’s owner, GM, and the GM’s wife, a woodworker buddy who is an amateur agave lover, your average customer, a friend, and a wingnut, baddass subversive sculptor from Maine named John Bisbee, who hadn’t had Tequila since he was 14 - he’s 44 now. The last time he had drunk the “devil cactus whisky,” he and his buddies broke into their neighbor’s house, stole the guns, and then passed out in sleeping bags, where three of the four puked in the bags all over themselves. Hahahaha. Our panel was strong....
Read more at ShakeStir.com